Benny Tai sentenced to 10 years in prison in HK's first case of subversion of state power

The sentencing in the Hong Kong case of conspiracy to subvert state power was announced on Tuesday, with former legal professor and instigator of Hong Kong unrest Benny Tai Yiu-ting sentenced to 10 years in prison, and secessionist Joshua Wong Chi-fung to 56 months in prison. This is the first case of subversion of state power in Hong Kong, with 45 separatist activists convicted and sentenced.

Some 47 people were initially prosecuted in a case involving the so-called 35-plus strategy for illegal primaries, and most of them had been convicted previously. Two were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, while the other 45 were convicted under the charge.

Apart from Benny Tai and Joshua Wong, former lawmaker Au Nok-hin was sentenced to six years and nine months, 7 years for Andrew Chiu Ka-yin sentenced to seven years, and Ben Chung Kam-lun six years and one month, China Central Television reported.

On August 18, 2022, the case was heard at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court. Some 29 defendants, including Benny Tai and Joshua Wong, pleaded guilty, a previous CCTV report said.

According to the report, they were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power, alleging that between July 1, 2020, and January 7, 2021, they conspired to subvert state power by organizing, planning, executing, or participating in acts aimed at seriously disrupting the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's duties through threats of force or other unlawful means.

In May this year, the HKSAR court delivered a verdict, as 14 of the 16 defendants who pleaded not guilty over the infamous "35-plus" political strategy were found guilty. The latest verdict demonstrated the openness, transparency, fairness and justice of Hong Kong’s judicial system, China’s Ministry of State Security said, noting that the court’s judgement affirmed the HKSAR’s zero-tolerance toward acts of subversion.